Easy Black and Orange Cookies

Yesterday would have been perfect for Halloween. It was cold, dark, and windy until late afternoon when the sun came out and kids walked home from school. It would have been a perfect evening for trick-or-treating, but Halloween is still a week away. To keep in the Halloween spirit, I tried a recipe for Easy Black and Orange Cookies. These are regular Black and White Cookies cookies with orange icing instead of white. I found the idea in Food & Wine magazine but used a different recipe.

Easy Black and Orange Cookies are Black and White Cookies with orange colored icing. They do not have any orange flavoring.

Author: Cookie Madness

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Serves: 8

Ingredients

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened (75 grams)

1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 grams)

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup buttermilk or lite sour cream, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (160 grams)

Icing:

3 cups confectioners' sugar (350 grams)

2 tablespoon light corn syrup

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (optional)

½ teaspoon vanilla

2-4 tablespoons water (you might need more)

1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

Red & yellow food coloring

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or non-stick foil.

With an electric mixer or a wire whisk, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and beat just until combined. Mix in baking soda and salt, making sure there are no lumps of baking soda. Stir in the buttermilk and vanilla, then add the flour and stir until it is well mixed.

Spoon quarter cups of batter about 3 inches apart onto baking sheet. Bake in middle of oven until tops are puffed and pale golden, and cookies spring back when touched, 15 to 17 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool to room temperature.

Icing: Stir together confectioners’ sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons water. Transfer half of icing to another bowl and stir in cocoa, adding more water slowly until you get a nice spreading consistency.

Lisa, the original version used even more lemon. I reduced it slightly and it’s not really noticeable. I don’t even know why it’s there, in fact. Some reviewers said to just leave it out.

I just had another one of these cookies (Fuzz likes them. Hooray!) and think the cookie part is really good. The icing is just okay, but in my opinion, traditional black & white icing isn’t all that great.

Anna, I’m curious about the effect of the lemon juice on the chocolate part of the icing. Does the lemon flavor come through? Chocolate and orange is wonderful together; maybe lemon could work too, but I’ve never tried it.

You may have already seen it but the Women’s Day magazine issue for Nov 1(pumpkin cheesecake on cover) has some great Halloween party ideas(starts on pg 123). I checked their web site and none of the recipes are there! Let me know if you want me to stick it in the mail to you or drop on your doorstep.